WACultures, Washington State’s organization dedicated to documenting and preserving traditional skills, is excited to announce the 2025-2026 cohort of Heritage Arts Apprenticeship projects.
The 16 projects include traditions like Mexican dance, Japanese calligraphy, Klezmer violin and many more, and were selected from over 50 applications representing the diversity of community-based art across the state. During the year-long project, each Master Artist works with an Apprentice for 100 hours to impart artistic and cultural knowledge, techniques, repertoire, and history. The teams work in close proximity to learn the kind of specialized knowledge an apprentice needs to soon be considered a master worthy of teaching themselves.
Now in its eighth year, the program is growing in both scope and depth. “We’re honored and excited,” says WACultures director Thomas Grant Richardson, “to get to support the cultural practices taking place in so many communities across the state. These are deeply meaningful artistic practices that benefit not only the Master Artist and Apprentice, but the communities they come from and indeed our whole state.”
Practitioners often lack the resources and networks to pass on their skills, and as a result, many traditions are at risk of being lost. In addition to both preserving traditional skills and generating income for the practitioners, the program also helps apprentices develop important leadership skills.
Program participants may teach or study music, visual art, occupational arts, dance, culinary traditions, storytelling and other verbal arts, and much more. Many who have been part of the Heritage Arts Apprenticeship Program use their experience to create businesses centered on their traditional products, or better establish themselves as teaching artists or paid performers. But most importantly, folk and traditional artists and practices provide meaningful ways for people to connect with their past and build bridges to other communities in the present.
“It’s a lot more about the process than the product,” says Director Richardson, “and during that process so much is conveyed between master and apprentice that isn’t easy quantifiable, and sometimes only seen by those who know how to look. But it’s that kind of knowledge that really makes a master, and that’s what keeps traditions thriving.”
Check out information about participants, their traditions, and their progress throughout the year at wacultures.org. Each team participates in a public event either in their own community or as part of the annual Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle over Memorial Day weekend.
WACultures is co-presented by Humanities Washington and ArtsWA.
THE TRADITIONS:
Yakama fishing scaffolds (Harrah)
Master Artist: Aaron Whitefoot
Apprentice: Isaiah Goudy
Master Artist Aaron Whitefoot will teach Isaiah to build scaffolds and sew nets to fish for salmon on the Columbia River in the traditional Yakama way. Every year when the salmon return in April, enrolled members from the Yakama tribe migrate down to the Columbia River to run their hoops and nets. The Columbia River has been a gathering place for Native American fishermen for thousands of years, and this form fishing from scaffolding has been passed down from generation to generation.
From Apprentice Isaiah Goudy, age 16, “I’ve grown up watching my family and friends carry on this tradition, and I would like to be a part of history.”
Capoeira Angola (Seattle)
Master Artist: Syed Taqi
Apprentice: Hannah Tiên
Capoeira Angola is a centuries-old African-Brazilian practice blending rhythmic combat, song, and handcrafted instruments into a living language of resistance and community. This apprenticeship will deepen movement, music, and instrument-building skills while cultivating inclusive leadership for women of color in Seattle’s Capoeira leadership.
From master Syed Taqi: “My goal is to prepare Hannah to be ready to graduate to the next level of Capoeira leadership en route to become an official leader of Mestre Nô’s Capoeira lineage. I chose Hannah because I believe it is important for BIPOC women, especially LGBTQ+ members of my community, to represent Capoeira as role models and leaders.”
Danza folclórica (Mexican folkloric dance)
Master Artist: Saraí González
Apprentice: Mariana Ruiz-González
This project will focus on improving basic ballet folklorico footwork; learning to identify techniques from different regions in Mexico; and understanding its history and cultural influences, including its evolution in the United States.
From Master Saraí González: “Folkloric dance is a transnational expression that helps the greater Mexican-American community preserve and weave their cultural heritage beyond the border. Our purpose as a group [El Color de Mexico] is to create an inclusive space where people of all ages and origins can discover, learn, and connect with Mexican cultural heritage through dance.”
Gathering of Materials: Cedar Root Baskets
Master Artist: Randy Lewis
Apprentice: Sia Aronica
This project passes knowledge of what materials are needed in the creation of traditional Cedar Root baskets, what materials will need to be foraged, where and when to gather said materials, and how to prep them for use.
From Master Randy Lewis, “In basketry, much time and labor are involved in the gathering and preparation of the materials. You cannot make a good basket out of bad or badly prepared materials, you need good materials to make good baskets.”
Mexican Mural Making (Vancouver)
Master Artist: Christian Barrios
Apprentice: Marianna Cruz
With the guidance of Master Christian Barrios, and his deep knowledge of Mexican traditions and symbolism, apprentice Marianna will research, plan, and produce a local mural that represents Mexican traditional culture.
From Master artist Christian Barrios, “My artistic journey is deeply intertwined with my community’s vitality, embodying a commitment to enriching and celebrating diverse cultural landscapes through art. This engagement with the past fosters a sense of heritage and appreciation within the community, bridging cultural divides and promoting a deeper understanding of our interconnected world.”
Shodo: Japanese Calligraphy (Lacey)
Master Artist: Chiyo Sanada
Apprentices: Lisa Maria d’Aquila, Max Boone
Japanese calligraphy, or 書道 (shodō) “the way of writing,” is a traditional art form that uses
brush, ink, and paper to create art using Japanese characters like kanji, hiragana, and katakana. The purpose of shodo is to train good penmanship, meditate, and create art that adds a personal, expressive touch to each stroke.
From Master Chiyo Sanada, “When it came time to choose a university, I decided to pursue a career as a Shodo teacher, with the dream of sharing the joy of Japanese calligraphy with people worldwide. I have been teaching calligraphy for 25 years in Washington. While teaching at university and high school, I emphasized Japanese calligraphy as a cultural and heritage section of the curriculum.”
Klezmer Violin: Repertoire, Style, and History (Seattle)
Master Artist: Sandra Layman
Apprentice: Shulamit Kleinerman
Klezmer music has accompanied Jewish communal life with both celebration and lamentation. It expresses a unique mix of joy and grief, capturing the sense of both loss and resilience that characterized the centuries long history of Yiddish-speaking Jews in Eastern Europe.
Master Artist Sandra Layman will share the tune repertoire and the specialized violin skills of the oldest traditional style of klezmer music, including ornamentation, phrasing, and expression, as well as the arts of playing sekund (violin harmony), improvising, and arranging for ensembles.
From Master Artist Sandra Laymen, “While klezmer today has come to mean different things to different performers and audiences, we’ll focus on the older violin sound, style, and repertoire that I came to love. We want to keep klezmer string playing alive, both as part of the Yiddish-culture musical heritage and for the musical artistry it brings for players themselves.”
Lao Natasinh: Lao Classical Dance (Auburn)
Master Artist: Sirichanh Sisavatdy
Apprentice: Keira Gan
Lao Classical Dance uses hand gestures and movements to tell poetic stories. Lao Classical dance is an artistic expression and a national treasure that embodies the essence of Lao identity, traditions, and values.
From Master Sirichianh, “Preserving original choreography, music, and meaning is both a personal responsibility and a cultural imperative. It is both a privilege and a profound responsibility to carry forward traditional Laotian classical dance, a cultural treasure entrusted to me by one of the last surviving Master Dancers.”
Tsimshian Language Preservation: Social Sm’algyax (Lynnwood)
Master Artist: David Boxley
Apprentices: Barbara Belk, Jerome Nathan
Sm’algyax is the language of the Tsimshian people. This project will strengthen and expand participants’ foundation of Sm’algyax vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and conversational skills. Throughout the learning process, apprentices will develop curriculum and workbook materials for use in family and community-based learning and teaching.
From Master David Boxley, “Our language is the foundation of our culture. Everything that we do, everything that we think, everything that guided us historically was through Sm’algyax. The fact that there are less than 50 people on the planet who speak our language rings the urgent bell in my heart.”
Songs Documenting PNW history (Renton)
Master Artist: Hobe Kytr
Apprentice: Joe Seamons
The tradition of making songs that reflect the stories of working people and the land that sustains them is much older than Washington State. This project is to learn and address our true history through songs of our region.
From Master Hobe Kytr: “My specialty is songs and stories of the Northwest, with a focus on the lower Columbia River and adjacent environs in northwest Oregon and southwest Washington. Traditional songs from this region are rare, but there are wonderful stories to tell. I have been writing songs in traditional style for most of the past fifty years to share these stories.”
This apprenticeship is a partnership between WA Cultures and the Oregon Folklife Network.
Barrio Culture and Ballpoint Pen Art (Granger)
Master Artist: Madeline Alviso Ramirez
Apprentice: Noah Lara
Unique to Chicano/a barrio culture, ballpoint pen art has become a dominate form in recording the amazing identity that comes from a culture deeply rooted in art, resilience, and pride. Chicano barrio artwork is recorded by using a basic ballpoint pen and paper to create images displaying “the barrio.”
From Master Artist Madeline Alviso Ramirez, “Ballpoint pen art, often created with what we had access to, reflects creativity born from limitation—drawing in notebooks, on envelopes, on anything we could find. These art forms are passed down informally—through homies, family, and the neighborhood—and serve as acts of self-love and survival. They preserve our voice. They honor our ancestors. They challenge stereotypes. Barrio art isn’t just art—it’s how we remember who we are, and how we teach the next generation to stay rooted in cultura.”
Traditional Japanese Taiko Drumming (Auburn)
Master Artist: Ringtaro Tateishi
Apprentice: Eugene Arai
Taiko Drumming has been used in Japan for various occasions including religious ceremonies, entertainment, and even military actions since the 6th century through Chinese and Korean cultural influences. The current popular form of “kumi-daiko”, or ensemble taiko, started taking shape in 1951 by Master Taiko drummer Daihachi Oguchi.
From Master Ringtaro Tateishi, “The whole reason that I brought my family over to the United States in 2003 is because the U.S. is a country that runs with immigrants from all over the world, which means this country is basically a small version of the whole world. Here, as we spread this Japanese culture in the U.S., we will be able to understand each country’s culture as they understand ours.”
This apprenticeship project is generously funded by ArtsWA’s Wellness, Arts and the Military program.
Traditional Ñuu Savi (Mixteco) Gastronomy (Seattle)
Master Artist: Lucila Gonzalez
Apprentice: Gloria Ramirez Santiago
This project focuses on the ancestral foodways and artisan traditions of the Ñuu Savi (Mixteco) Indigenous community from Oaxaca, Mexico. It focuses on preparing ceremonial dishes such as traditional mole and tamales rooted in the cultural and spiritual practices of women in La Mixteca.
From Master Artist Lucila Gonzalez, “I come from La Voz Tututepec, a Mixteco (Ñuu Savi) town on the Oaxacan coast. Ñuu Savi means “people of the rain,” and our traditions are rooted in land, food, language, and storytelling. My grandmother was a keeper of our culture. She spoke Mixteco and taught me how to make mole, tamales, and other ceremonial foods that are shared at weddings, funerals, and community gatherings. These recipes are not written down, they are taught by doing, by memory, by heart. Women in our community carry this knowledge, and food becomes a way to show love, to remember our ancestors, and to bring people together.”
Yéil Koowú Raven’s Tail Weaving, “Dressing Our Dancers” (Tumwater)
Master Artist: Shaadootlaa Iyall
Apprentices: Daphyne Albee, Sammantha Williams
“Dressing Our Dancers” revitalizes regalia, stories, and history while strengthening urban communities. Tlingit artist Shaadootlaa teaches apprentices Daphyne Albee (Tlingit) & Sammantha Williams (Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian) to weave with traditional dyes, thigh-spun warp, and ethnomathematics for ceremony.
From Master Shaadoootlaa Iyall, “This work is spiritually significant, time-intensive, and materially costly. Sustained funding is critical to support the weavers’ ability to teach, create, and continue wrapping future generations in the strength of tradition, identity, and resilience.”
Ragapravaham: Carnatic music on the Indian violin (Covington)
Master Artist: Ganesh Rajagopalan
Apprentice: Amatra Jagannathan
Ragapravaham is a tradition within Carnatic music that features lyric-less compositions designed to showcase the uniqueness of melodic instruments. These works bring fresh, innovative perspectives to Indian classical music.
From Master Ganesh Rajagopalan, “In my community, Ragapravaham has opened new pathways to engage with tradition, especially among younger generations and global listeners unfamiliar with the languages of Carnatic compositions. Though contemporary in presentation, it remains grounded in the time-honored grammar of raga and tala. It honors tradition while innovating within it, ensuring that our musical heritage remains vibrant, accessible, and ever-evolving.”
Swan Dancing (Yakima)
Master Artist: Mary Lee Jones
Apprentice: Joelle Jones
The Little Swans, aka Iksiks Washanahla, are a group of young girls ages three and above. The collaborative work helps young girls with a sense of identity, cultural competence, tribal language, and public speaking.
From Master Mary Lee Jones, “The significance of the Swan Dancers in our culture and community is vital! The Swan Dancers have traveled far and wide with over 100 girls during my time with the group. The community utilizes the dance group as a representation for our area.”